Namtaru lemnu asakkū marṣūtu, inscribed NAM.TAR ḪUL.GÁL Á.SÀG GIG.GA, is an ancient Mesopotamian medical treatise from the first millennium BC which concerns the “grievous asakku-demons” and the diseases they cause.[1] Originally stretching to at least twelve tablets, it is only partially extant, with parts of around eight of the tablets from the Library of AshurbanipalinNineveh[2] and a copy of tablet 3 from the temple of NabȗinNimrud, ancient Kalhu.[3] It is recorded, with a somewhat different gloss than one might have expected, in the Exorcists Manual: di-‘u GIG-tu4, di’u marṣūtu,[4] betraying its intended purpose in the combat of the demons and the cure of the ailment they were supposed to have caused, “fever sickness,” a grave disease characterized by a headache,[5] possibly malaria.
The sickness that afflicts the patient is described asakku marṣu ina zumur amēli ittabši, “the dangerous asakku-demon has settled in the body of the man.” It invokes the metaphor of clothing: amēla muttallika kīma ṣubāti iktatam, “he [the asakku-demon] enveloped the miserable man like a garment”; and that of a force of nature: asakku kīma mīli nāru isḫup, “the asakku-demon overwhelmed [him] like the flood of a river.”[6]
The text includes several ritual procedures for combating epidemic fevers and these often involve the manipulation of goats or their offspring. One example involves the placement of a kid on the head of the patient.[7] Piglets (ŠAḪ.TUR.RA) are also sacrificed in pursuit of relief.[8]
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The Exorcists Manual (KAR 44) Museum number: VAT 8275
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† Work not extant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
